REEL CANADA AND NATIONAL CANADIAN FILM DAY

National Canadian Film Day (NCFD) was started two years ago as a way to celebrate the power and diversity of Canadian film. The inaugural National Canadian Film Day event, held on April 29, 2014, included 70 public and invitational events in 44 communities. Last year our reach almost tripled with more than 170 screenings held in 83 communities across the country.

This year, the event will be held on April 20, 2016, and we hope to make it even bigger. In 2015 we began increasing our outreach into Indigenous communities, including:

Four library screenings in the Yukon, including the fly-in community of Old Crow

A screening of Tunnitt (a film about Inuit tattooing) at the central library in Iqaluit

A special screening co-presented by imagineNATIVE and Western Arctic Moving Pictures (WAMP) of Alanis Obomsawin’s Trick or Treaty? in Yellowknife. The screening was attended by a crowd of 120 community members and representatives from both imagineNATIVE and WAMP.

A screening of a programme of shorts at the Yellowknife central library

Four different screenings of Alanis Obomsawin’s film Trick or Treaty?, including a pre- sentation in Charlottetown, PEI with Island Media Arts Cooperative (IMAC)

Twelve different screenings across the country of films with Indigenous content

Our aim for 2016 is to expand our reach, engage more Indigenous communities and programme even more Indigenous content, culminating in an even larger engagement from our partners in 2017 (Canada 150).

Organizations that sign on to participate in National Canadian Film Day 2016 before March 2nd,
2016 will receive:

Help with film selections (if needed)

Support and advice on the logistics of planning a successful “film festival” screening

A screening party kit, which includes fun games, activities, movie snacks and other items which can be used as contest items, giveaways or thank you prizes for hard working volunteers!

Promotion of your event, online through our social media and other PR channels

(Please note: organizations can commit to participating after March 2nd, 2016, however, depending on the location of the community, there may not be enough lead time to send any promotional materials and screening party kits in time for National Canadian Film Day).

We hope you’ll consider becoming a partner and helping us make NCFD 2016 a better and more inclusive event that reflects the full spectrum of Canada’s diversity.

Please write to us at ncfd@reelcanada.ca, or visit our website (www.canadianfilmday.ca).

About REEL CANADA

REEL CANADA is a non-profit organization that celebrates Canada through three core programs: Our Films in Our Schools, Welcome to Canada, and National Canadian Film Day.

Now in our 11th season, we have reached over 400,000 students, and 13,000 new Canadians with fun, engaging festival events.

Since 2010, REEL CANADA has been expanding its Indigenous programming. With help from our longtime partner, imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, we offer a broad range of Indigenous work to schools across the country. In recent years, our events have featured post-screening discussions with Neil Diamond, Jennifer Podemski, Janelle Wookey, Danis Gou- let, Roseanne Supernault, and other Indigenous artists.

In the wake of the Truth and Reconciliation Report, demand for First Nations, Métis, Inuit- fo- cused festivals from school boards and public partners has increased dramatically.

Educators and Canadians across the nation are eager to increase their own understanding of Indigenous cultures and we think it is crucial that this conversation be expanded, encouraged and nurtured – especially as we draw nearer to the celebration of Canada’s 150th. We hope to play a role in this process and facilitate the participation of more indigenous communities and in- dividuals in NCFD, and expose more non-indigenous Canadians to indigenous cultural content.

For more information about our educational programs, please see our website (www.reelcanada.ca)
or write to us at contactus@reelcanada.ca

About The Author

MUSKRAT is an on-line Indigenous arts, culture magazine that honours the connection between humans and our traditional ecological knowledge by exhibiting original works and critical commentary. MUSKRAT embraces both rural and urban settings and uses media arts, the Internet, and wireless technology to investigate and disseminate traditional knowledges in ways that inspire their reclamation.

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ABOUT US

MUSKRAT is an on-line Indigenous arts, culture, and living magazine that honours the connection between humans and our traditional ecological knowledge by exhibiting original works and critical commentary.